Suggestions or advice anyone?

[WhittyPsyche]

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Hello!

I have spent some time lurking on these forums over the past couple months, but have finally joined today. I would like to tell my story/situation and welcome any feedback from any of you. In short I am just trying to become the most competitive applicant. I will keep it brief. Note I graduated in 2010, but had a child and didn't attend college immediately. I am enrolled in a four year accredited university but it is not the best and was done solely because the schedule flexibility I needed after having my son. I take evening, weekend, and online courses. The issue is the hard science reqs are not sufficient at my current school because of the non-traditional nature, so I either need to take them at UMD or a CC. The CC is much cheaper and have a schedule that will fit with work but I am worried about the way it "looks".

I would like to graduate in a timely fashion so I want to have the pre med reqs taken care of in time to take the MCAT but that will only happen if I take science course outside my current school. Is that okay? Or should I just transfer ASAP and take them in residency? This would of course mean quitting my job, so you can understand why it is a tough decision to make when you have a family. But if its worth it of course I will do it at the drop of a dime.



A bit about me:

-I am a second semester freshman, but have a semester worth of AP credits. SAT was 1950 not so great, I admit...
-My cumulative GPA (counting this semesters grades) is a 4.0
-Major Psychology, minor in Biology, but planning on changing to a dual degree with PHNB or Neuroscience depending on the school I transfer to.
-I have finished all Gen Ed reqs as well as 5 psyccourses 300-level and above
-Calc I this summer
-No sciences besides Intro Bio done!! =(
-This summer I am shadowing a general psychiatrist in DC, and next winter a PhD psychologist. (Both friend of family)

Somewhat unrelated:
-I am fluent in Spanish, not a native speaker, should I take coursework to reflect this? How else could I demonstrate this knowledge on an application?

I am location limited because I am purchasing my first home in the next few months. Sooo I am looking at UMD, Georgetown, American U, Howard, or George Washington, possibly UVA if I don't mind the commute. My top is Georgetown, would attending as a ugrad help my chances for their SOM. UMDCP is my second choice.

I think for my freshman year I am in good standing so far. I know often advice is given to freshmen that they have no idea what they are talking about when they decide on a specialty early on, but I am 21 years old, married and a mother, 3 years in the workforce and know for sure psychiatry is what I want to do. If anyone has any experience specific to any of the above schools I would be glad to know that too!

 

[Ohyeah]

I'm not from that area and don't have experience with non-traditional circumstances... but I'm confident you'll get the answers here, piece by piece. I'll give you the pieces that I can:

The issue is the hard science reqs are not sufficient at my current school because of the non-traditional nature, so I either need to take them at UMD or a CC. The CC is much cheaper and have a schedule that will fit with work but I am worried about the way it "looks".

It's my hunch that the CC courses will not be adequate for most med schools, although they'd help for MCAT prep. I think others who know more about this can clarify.

-Major Psychology, minor in Biology, but planning on changing to a dual degree with PHNB or Neuroscience depending on the school I transfer to.

As a fellow Psych/Bio major, I personally decided against alternatives like Neuroscience because, at my school, it introduced additional requirements (restriction of research involvement to a particular department; thesis requirement). I was able to take the biological psychology-type of courses (behavioral neuroscience, neurochem, etc.) as psych electives anyway. My bio major also introduced some "life sciences" requirements that left me scrambling for classes about basic nutrition, wildlife, and bugs.

See if you can avoid such unnecessary strains. Especially with a kid and possibly a job, I'd keep it as simple as possible. I'd say that the psychology major + pre-med requirements + some upper level sciences (genetics, biochem, microbio, physiology,.. for example) is all you NEED to be prepped for med school with an interest in psychiatry. Anything else is extra.

Somewhat unrelated:
-I am fluent in Spanish, not a native speaker, should I take coursework to reflect this? How else could I demonstrate this knowledge on an application?

I recall AMCAS having a space to add languages and indicate level of fluency, somewhere toward the beginning. If you have time for Spanish coursework, I think it'd be great to take. But if not, I wouldn't worry about it. It'll be on the app anyway. You can find other ways to keep your fluency up (such as volunteer work, following spanish media, or maybe teaching your kid a second langauge? haha).


Hope this helps.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Thank you for the feedback!
After researching around the site I found a lot of people who said they had no problem, but I really do not want to risk it at all. Think I will check out non-degree seeking at Georgetown.

I agree that anything beyond the major and pre-med reqs are extra but the Physiology and Neurobiology with psych pretty much covered all the pre med reqs between the two and offers the "extra" classes that I am actually interested in.
And no, I have no time for Spanish coursework so that's why I was wondering if it is a necessity. As far as keeping fluency I speak Spanish constantly in my job, and I have a conversation instructor from Ecuador that I Skype with twice a week. (Helping me with medical and professional spanish!)

Did you have any advice on whether to just transfer asap or do the multiple enrollment?

 

[chrisdw]

When I was pre-med I had also heard that taking your pre-requisite courses at CC would hurt your application and so I was worried about it when I applied to medical school. I had taken both physics courses and inorganic chemistry II at a community college because it was much cheaper and driving to the closest university would have been very difficult with the full time job I had at the time.

Ultimately, nobody even mentioned it when it came time for interviews. Now that I am in medical school I have learned that there are quite a few people in my class who have taken classes at community college! Admissions committees can tell whether or not you are taking CC courses because you just want to get easy A's or because you have legitimate reasons.

It sounds like you have great reasons for taking a few of your classes at CC and most adcoms are going to understand, especially because you are a non-traditional student. The only thing you don't want to do is take all of your pre-med requirements at CC, just because of the fact that doing so will make it hard for the admissions committees to compare you against other applicants and gauge whether or not you have the ability to keep up with the difficulty of medical school curriculum.

I say don't worry about it. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!



http://aesculapianadventurer.blogspot.com/

 

[Ohyeah]

T
I agree that anything beyond the major and pre-med reqs are extra but the Physiology and Neurobiology with psych pretty much covered all the pre med reqs between the two and offers the "extra" classes that I am actually interested in.

That sounds like a great fit then! I was just saying... because I know several people who over-extended themselves and took a shot to their GPA just for the sake of having a double major, a minor, or a specialized major/thesis (to appear unique on apps).

As far as keeping fluency I speak Spanish constantly in my job, and I have a conversation instructor from Ecuador that I Skype with twice a week. (Helping me with medical and professional spanish!)

Wow, sounds like your Spanish experience will be all over your app! Definitely no need for coursework.

Did you have any advice on whether to just transfer asap or do the multiple enrollment?

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused by all this. Can you clarify the options?

• stay at current school while enrolling as non-degree student elsewhere (Georgetown?)
• fully transfer to UMD and do everything there
• stay at current school and do pre-reqs at community college

 

[WhittyPsyche]

[*]stay at current school while enrolling as non-degree student elsewhere (Georgetown?)
[*]fully transfer to UMD and do everything there
[*]stay at current school and do pre-reqs at community college
[/LIST]

Yes that is pretty much the run-down of it.
My husband and I talked it over extensively last night. We decided I will just transfer to UMD CP, their transfer admissions is still open for Fall and for Spring, so yay! And I checked their transfer credit evaluation database and all my classes transfer. Their psychology program is a Limited Enrollment Program so I have to finish my calc and molecular bio by the end of the summer in order to get in the major. Or I may just transfer in the Spring so I have more time to save some cash at my job.

It's going to be really tough leaving a 50k+ job to be in school on campus. But definitely worth it in the long run!

Chrisdw

Thanks, will pm you!

 

[dsoz]

Good luck.

I don't have a lot of answers for you, but it sounds like you are asking the right questions and are working in the right direction.

Take the classes that fit your schedule the best. Don't take them all at the CC, or if you do, take some upper division stuff at the university to show you can handle the science. Otherwise it will be he'll when you hit med school.

As for language, there are places to check off BASIC, INTERMEDIATE, or FLUENT for many languages. Also, if you mention it in your personal statement and activity list (make it a MOST IMPORTANT activity) you can write about all that you do. That feature alone will be a major positive for your application.

I would not try to buy a house unless you are sure you can sell it. Your list of med schools to attend is impressive, and unless you maintain that high GPA and get a great MCAT, you may have to move to attend a school that you do get into.

Speaking of schools, keep the schools where you want to go in your head, but also keep an open mind. You have a long way to go to get through all the requirements to get into med school, and you may not do well in some classes, or you may change your mind. There are a lot of freshmen premeds that don't finish all the requirements, and of those that do, fewer than half of all the applicants in a year actually matriculate into a med school. YOU CAN DO IT IF IT IS WHAT YOU WANT, AND IF YOU WORK HARD TO GET IT. but don't sacrifice your family (especially your son!) to get to med school. It won't be worth it if everyone that you love hates you for what it is you have done to them.

The non traditional route is hard, and it is doubly hard for a woman with a family. Society demands that you are the perfect wife, the perfect mom, and school demands you to be the perfect student. Jobs require you to be the perfect employee. It is hard to juggle all these things. Find a balance.

dsoz

 

[WhittyPsyche]

Dsoz,

Thank you for the sound advice. My husband and I agreed on the holding off the home purchase (luckily our last offer was not accepted so no loss on the deposit!) In the decision for medical school I did reach the realization that keeping an open mind would be best. So I am not going to be close minded on location. My husband will be graduating in a year and has not decided on a location for his PhD program so we decided we will go wherever we both can fit in; applying to various cities, him completing a MBA or related masters while he waits for me.. I have the full support of my family, and extended and hope that will continue, they all no I would not be happy with anything else!
Regarding the course work, I am extremely good at biology and neurobiology, and have taken some upper level neuroscience and neurobiology related courses for my BS in psychology. During the years I was not in school I tried to stay up with the coursework of my friends who were enrolled. My husband is a math major and has taken many advanced physics courses so he will help me to get prepared and get through those. Chemistry I am most afraid of, I have very little experience with it. But I am an very studious person so I am ready to take on anything.

I am ready for this journey, I have wanted to be a psychiatrist since I was 13, and through all of the life challenges I have faced that has never changed.